morning, sunshine. tuesday. those are just sleeping days. i'm robin meade. good to have you with us. a glimmer of hope for two americans held in north korea. some people think that the deal is already made. plus is it over or not? we're going to tell you how long the cash for clunkers program may be able to sputter on. and new signs in life in the nation's economy, why your new retirement may be getting better as we speak. first, though, former president bill clinton has arrived this morning.

he was met by high-ranking officials and a girl carrying flowers. laura ling and euna lee were sentenced to 12 year to prin after illegally cross the board. some say he's facing a delicate balancinging at. he's going to face the same difficulty that the administration have been facing since these two women were caught. they want to keep the negotiations separate to everything else, separate to the nuclear issue. the north koreans because they're holding the two reporters and they're a trump card, they want everything as a package deal. >> some say president clinton wouldn't have gone without some sort of understanding for their release otherwise it would have been an embarrassment for the united states. the white house says that it wants the senate to vote on a $2 billion extension by the

weekend. now, yesterday democrat dianne feinstein and republican susan collins said they will support extending the program. opponents say that cash for clunkers program is poorly managed. supporters say it's a big succe success. >> if it ain't broke, don't fix it. it's working in every way. it's working as a stimulus, it's working to help families, it's working to improve mileage. what we need to do here is not put on the brakes but step on the gas, keep the program going. >> the government should not be in the used car business, and this is just a great example of how badly the government manages things. >> the white house says the cash for clunkers program has helped more than a quarter million people trade in their new gas guzzlers. >> exactly what our neighbors did. they came over and said, yeah, we bought two new cars.

you have to get over and get this done. >> our problem is we are low on cars. we're the lowest we were in three years. >> the cash for clunkers program is intended to run through november. even if it gets an extra $2 billion, it will probably only last through september. some international passengers from continental thought they were going to die. people were thrown against the ceilings and the walls. you can see how it took out wires and the oxygen masks. many say that they were terrified. >> i felt like everything was going to crash. i felt like we were going to die. the first thing i thought about was air france. >> it was very tough and fast. you know, it's like we hit a wall, you know. it was bow! it was something terrible.

>> the air france flight the woman referred to was also out of rio. 22 # people died in that crash. yesterday's flight landed in miami where people were treat jood many young people who watch too much tv may be alt a risk for higher blood pressure. they found the less tv watched the lower the blood pressure. researchers say they eat junk food when watching tv and that can disrupt sleep. now investigators are trying to figure out what the chemical was. the fume started seeping from a trash disposal facility in new bedford, massachusetts, yesterday. it was so strong some people famted. two people are in critical condition. one victim speculated this. >> it smelled like gas and ammonia mixed together. >> like propane gas.

>> propane gas, yeah. >> what do you think happened? >> i have no idea. no clues. the post office may close hundreds of occasion. officials say e-mail is largely to blame. the postal service could record a loss of nearly $7 billion los this year, that's despite a 2 cent increase in stamps. now many may be closed or consolidated. no final decisions may be made before the end of september. okay. so a married man took one of his girlfriends to a hotel, but get this. court documents alemg her sister, his other girl friend, and his wife were waiting for him. he was tied up, and his man region was glued to his stomach. then they left. he got freed by chewing through his bindings. the women were arrested. one says the story's gotten twisted and she's embarrassed.

>> i'm glad to see she's in stripes. no matter how much time she gets, it's not enough. it's not enough. i understand the man was cheating. >> come on. four women, i'm not saying they were right, but they were like four women and he was married. >> so divorce him. you don't glue his stuff to his stuff. >> there is some stuff. >> it was a loud motel room and it was loud for you, too, when you get to parts of missouri. a couple of lines of thunderstorms moving toward the east ahead of a cold front and a nice jet stream going on right now. north of kansas city and south of omaha. look at the line of thunderstorms vming here. no tornado warnings but any time you see a yellow box pop up, that's a strong warning. that's near houston and nebraska. north of kansas city, look at

your radar sweep picking up very well right now. a nice line of thunderstorms going all the way toward missouri. i want to show you this one thunderstorm across western illinois. that was severe about a half hour ago. now it's not severe but there's heavy rain. more showers around western ohio and western indiana. look down to your south. louisville might get clipped by this. cincinnati will get clipped by this. later today we'll watch this area light up, all the spots in red. this area in western nebraska, late in the evening hours. be following that. hot temperatures when you get out there. tulsa, 105, 110 with your heat index. out west, things are oklahoma. your high today in phoenix around 114. right around savannah, georgia, we talked about heavy rain around the coast. 2.5 inches of rain in savannah

funneled into the roadway. you can see the cars swallowed up by the heavy rain. you'll see more thunderstorms today. not as widespread but not as heavy rainmakers either. >> what a mess. former president bill clinton is trying to negotiate the release of two u.s. journalists but why is he the one in north korea today?

. our salute to the troops goes to lance corporal randy conover today. it's from his mom. he just got mair and everyone especially mom cannot wait until he comes home. >> good morning, robin. my name is rhena mcdaniel from kentucky. we all miss you and worry about him every day and we love him and can't wait till he comes home at the end of october. i miss his sense of humor.

i miss his jokes. i miss my little boy. >> rena, thank you so much, and we certainly hope that he hears that message. now forecast you have somebody in the service, why don't you honor them. go to cnn.com/robin and send them a salute. right now former president bill clinton is trying to negotiate freedom for two u.s. women in north korea. he landed there earlier this morning. remember, laura ling and euna lee entered illegally to conduct a smear campaign. correspondent robert louis, why send former president bill clinton when his wife is secretary of state? >> good question. he may command a great deal of respect. that's what a professor told "the washington post." he said that north korea's top military commander met with clinton, in fact, in 2000. now, another expert told the l.a. times the north koreans have a lot of nostalgia for the end of the clinton

administration. that could be another possibility. and madam albright visited back in 2000, also part of the clinton administration. >> that's true. you know, clinton is there to try to win the release of two american women but you're hearing of other possible gains for the united states in this meeting. >> other analysts say it was clear that he would return with the women. there are other items on the agenda. listen to this. >> will bill clinton be carrying a letter from barack obama? will he meet kim jong-il? i think if he doesn't meet kim jong-il, there will be a lot of questions raised. >> mike chinoy. a think tank president told the louisiana times that kim jong-il will have to meet with

the former president if he does not meet with clinton. he's on life support. we'll tell you how bill clinton may not have been the first choice for this. >> interesting. thank you so much, richard. you know, this is just so wrong. ryan o'neal said he hit on a woman at farrah fawcett's funeral. and new for you in the next half hour, imagine his surprise when she turned out to be his daughter tatum. ew! a! he -- what? he has one daughter while. wouldn't you recognize your daughter? okay. i hope it's some kind of weird compliment he pad her and it came out all wrong. >> yeah. i think i just threw up in my mouth. stocks are doing well. a three-week rally got even better yesterday. money expert jennifer westhoven. is this because we're actually

seeing signs that things are turning around? >> we did yesterday. you know, not the kind that you're going to feel but the kind that economists really notice. auto sale, that's something you might have noticed. they got a big jolt for cash for clunkers. consumption spending rose. that's all good news in a bad economy. the three-week rally hit another milestone. the s&p 500 topped 1,000 for the first time since election day. the dow is holding on to the gains over 9,000. all of this matters because if you've got any kind of retirement, even if you don't have a 401(k), maybe you've got a pension that your company is taking care of or maybe you've got somewhere where there are mutual funds, they're probably tied to stocks. still, of course, those are some of the indicators that things are good. we know that job and homes are going to take a long time to feel better, and that's where most of us feel. it feel good to see these signs

getting a little bit better heefrmt's the trouble with the big rallies we've seen. oil went up. we all know that is bad news for our gas prices. aaa says it will now cost you $2.56 for a gallon of regular on average. still relatively cheap. prices every morning when you go out, you're probably seeing them just a little bit higher. robin. >> we've been telling you about three american hikers who crossed iran's border but never crossed the country. iran's been silent about it until now.

you know, iran is finally confirming it has arrested three hikers that were hiking in iraq. that's new this morning. iran said they have been charged with illegal entry for crossing an unmarked border from iraq. secretary of state hillary clinton is urging iran to provide more info. >> obviously we are concerned. we want this matter brought to a resolution as soon as possible. and we call on the iranian government to help us determine the whereabouts of the three

missing americans and return them as quickly as possible. >> a website linking to the iran's revolution guard says they infiltrated into iran after being warned they were close to the border. a coroner is doing an autopsy on a child's body pulled from a canal in idaho. police don't know if it's robert manwill who has been missing since july 12. police have said there is evidence that the boy disappeared under suspicious circumstances. an iraqi extremist group blamed for attacking u.s. troops says i won't do it anymore. two iraqi government officials say they struck a deal with the shiite group league of the righteous. it promised to lay down the weapons and join the political process. they're believed to be responsible for killing five u.s. soldier and kidnapping

british contractors. an nfl player who accidentally shot himself in the thigh now could be going to jail for more than three years. rafer, good morning. >> good morning, robin. yeah. very bad new for this young map. we're talking, of course, of former giants receiver blackco burress. a florida grand jury has indicted him for carrying a gun. he shot himself when his gun fell on the ground. he's looking at two felony counts of possession and one count of reckless endangerment. so per new york's law if he is convicted you're looking aet a minimum of 3 1/2 years behind bars. he is pleading not guilty and we're taking your thoughts on this. you know we're about news and view. a 3.5 year sentence for carrying an unlicensed gun. what do you think about that? text your response to 45688. start it with robin's name so it gets to us. we'll read your thought. you can e-mail us at

cnn.com/robin. hit the contact button at the bomb of the page. hamlin broke down and cried after winning the race on monday. his 91-year-old grandmother with whom he was very close had passed away just a few days ago. >> patrick's mom passed away, our tire guy a couple weeks ago, and my grandmother a few days ago, so, you know, it's just -- i'm thanking my mom right now. >> good for him. talk about making a grand entrance, take a look at what reggie wayne waswaring when he drove up to camp. he was in a full attire and rented a dump truck saying it's time to go to work. it's the annual lawnmower races in west sussex, england, but weather was pretty bad.

normally they do this race for 12 hours but they ha to cut it short. look at that guy just covered in mud. it lasted about four hours. oh, my godness. >> and i'm hoping -- i'm always assuming they do a lawnmower race without the blades. >> correct. they do it without the blade. >> okay. safety first, mud second. travelers, here's bob van dillen. >> stretching on in toward maybe louisville later today. look at cincinnati. look at the norms almost directly overhead. they're coming on in. ground stops until 7:15 eastern time this morning because of the thunderstorms you're seeing right here. everybody, less than an hour, orlando, nashville, cincinnati, cleveland, detroit, st. louis, all seeing some thunderstorm and morning fog could get us a slowdown a bit. atlanta and san francisco, 30 minutes to one-hour delays here. more on that in about a half

hour. >> you got it. a baby taken from the body of a slain pregnant woman is now the center of a custody battle. find out who is fighting over the infant and her 18-month old sister. )%)%)%)%)%)%)%)%)%)%)%)%%

former president bill clinton arrived in north korea this morn. he's hoping to win the release of two o american journalists being held there. laura ling and euna lee were sentenced to 12 years in prison after illegally crossing the board. the taliban says it's trying to show the government can't protect its capitol. the city has been relatively violent-free compared to the rest of afghanistan. the taliban claimed responsibility and sayses that there will be more before this month ee elections there. president obama celebrate add new g. ifrmt bill with hundreds of veterans in virginia

yesterday. he calls it a moral obligation to our young servicemen andwomen. former president bush signed it last year. those are some of the headlines we're following this morning. >> hello. i see you peeking out from the covers. come onl. it's 6:30 a.m. i'm robin meade. former president bill clinton has arrived in north korea. laura ling and euna lee were sentenced to 12 years in prison. one expert says he would not have gone without some sort of understanding about the women's release. >> the fact that he's fwaully going there to north korea probably means that they've already made the arrangements for the release of the two reporters. so it's most likely that when former president clinton gets there, he'll be coming back with the release of the two reporter,

so that in itself is quite s significant because this has been sort of a thorn in the side of north korea/u.s. relations. >> now, correspondent richard lui, you're learning that former president bill clinton may not would have been. >> north korea actually balked at the first two suggestions. president obama's administration offed to send former vice president al gore. they also offered to send governor bill richardson. he helped in the release of a u.s. citizen who swam across a river in 1996. as i said, they balked to that, according to our producer, and now it's going to be former president bill clinton. >> new yorket korea recently engaged name-calling with

clinton's wife, the secretary of state. >> certainly a lot of tension, robin. that's what you're pointing out. united states is trying to get north korea back to the table to continue the process of the six-party talks in track tieing to reach that nuclear disarm ament issue. north korea did its second nuclear bomb test in may and has conducted several since then. meanwhile there is this issue. secretary of state hillary clinton is in after ka. this is touching for her as well as north korea. she recently described north korea as school children. a judge approved michael jackson's mother getting permanent custody of the late singer's three kids. debbie rowe did not object in exchange for visitation rights

but something that's gotten attention. an attorney for the dermatologist wants to be involved in the kids' life. >> arnie klein comes in and he doesn't ask for custody. he doesn't ask for visitation. he just sort of asks to be invited to thanksgiving every year. >> in a custody case. >> the thing is what he was asking for, the law does not have any provision for and he has no legal status because he is -- he is rumored to be their parents but he's never been proven to be their father. well, in an interview, it was said to the best of their knowledge he is not the biological fiancee of jackson's children but he says he cannot rule it out. a woman is suing her college because she cannot find a job. trina thompson graduated in

april with a 2.7 gpa. since then she's only heard from a couple of employer. she wanted her $72,000 back. >> the college says no one can guarantee unemployment but it's committed to helping all of its students search for a job. i think her allegations were like, oh, they help, you know, people with higher gpas usually. >> your cholesterol level could some day affect the health of your brain. a study finds that people with borderline high cholesterol have a 28% greater risk of developing alzheimer's later. if you've got high cholesterol your risk increases by 66%. the study followed almost 10,000 people for 40 years. 35 minutes past the hour. okay. if we had one idea about the weather today, what would it be,

meteorologist bob van dillen? >> stormy for the midwest and more in the mid afternoon. it will be seasonable. i love that. bobby, i'm getting mair aed in september. what's the weather going to be like? seasonable. i don't know. look at the thunderstorms blossoming. kansas city, a nice little batch right there. it's that low level jet stream. it really gets activated right before the sun comes up. the sup comes up. it begins to weaken. we're watching thing move along pretty nicely. dropping out of nebraska in toward kansas. you can see as it sweeps around picking up a decent complex of thunderstorms moving toward the east at 35, 40 miles per hour. no big deal right now. it is dropping some hail and the possibility of some real gusty winds too. over toward the north a little bit farther you can see showers moving as you get toward the ft. wayne area.

indianapolis, you're dry right now. look at the thunderstorm line rolling in. later this afternoon the entire area will erupt in severe weather again. i think the main concern today is going to be large hail and gusty winds. that's something we're following. below that frontal boundary, check out some of these temperatures. tulsa, temperature plus the humidity, 100 to 105. it's going to feel less than that around the yellow shaded area. feels like the upper 90s for you. out west, another hot day for phoenix. your record, around 114 to 115. that's what you're going to say. if you want to break the heat, how about wisconsin. look at this, robin? this is not yours but these are the water walkers. >> that's not jennifer westhoven on skis. >> good for that guy. atlanta towercam shows what we

have. fog. it's going to be like that for the rest of the morning. not a bad start. 93. just a slight chance of a thunderstorm. >> do you ever think about how do these people learn these things and how many times do you have to fall and eat water? >> at least it's not like doing it without a net. >> it's impressive, very impressive. check out a big road block yesterday. this is not what the cops wanted to see. it turned out to be a problem.

oh, are you sleepy today? it's 20 minutes into the hour. here's a look at the morning paper. "the new york times" reports

that it could be decades before laid off workers get back to their old salary levels. studies found that people who lost their jobs in the '80s even are still making an average of 15 to 20% less than they would have had they not been laid off. doctors say you should get an ammonia vaccine while we wait for the swine flu vaccine to get ready. critics say that there is no proof that ammonia vax seen prevents complications from the h1n1. and in "usa today" more are forred to share the road. now they're to stay three feet away from cyclists. a really angry alligator brought traffic to a standstill on a south carolina highway. look at this thing. this alligator hissed and scratched at passing cars. it took them about an hour and a half to rope the gator and pull

him back into the brush. they released him back into the wild far, far away from the highway. boy, he was ticked off, biting his own tail've en. after ryan o'neal made a shocking admission to vanity fair magazine, i'm going to say it was disturbing. he says he was so frazzled at farrah fawcett's funeral he actually hit on his own daughter, tatum. now his sons redmond and griffin are wondering if his devotion to farrah in the last days were an act. farrah gave the bulk of her estate to redmond and left nothing to ryan. how could you hit on someone and not realize they're your daughter when you have one daughter? >> i had to run more on that. the first thing he said was do you have a drink. >> do you have a drink. >> yeah. do you got a drink on you.

>>. >> jimmy: wmg, we need to move on to a different suspect. >> that's not what you and i are talking about. >> so true. president obama, campaign promise, no new tax hikes for the middle class. but jennifer westhoven, what are people saying now? >> this is what people have been talking about. on sunday's shows, they left open the possibility that higher taxes might be a way to pay for health care reform and close the budget deficit, but yesterday after a lot of back and forth with the news corp the president's press secretary shot that down. >> the president's clear commitment in the terms as clear as possible that he's not raising tacks on those that make less than $250,000 a year. >> okay. so one proposal coming out of congress is to add a tax to the wealthiest americans to help pay for the health care overhaul.

now, some say this is a good sign for the housing market. i think it's a stretch. in some of the state hardest hit by foreclosures, things may have hit rock bottom. we're talking about arizona, california, florida. these are places where the foreclosure rates are extremely high. well, they have stabilized in some of those places at very awful levels but they seem to have stabilized. other experts say don't get your hopes up just yet. the crisis is still getting worse in other spots and we've still got unemployment raising. that's the main thing. if people lose their jobs, they cannot pay their mortgages. ruth madoff, the wife of the ponzi scheme artist bernard madoff has agreed she'll check in with a court trustee any time she tries to spent more than $100. the trustee's job is to safeguard the victim. her lawyer called it totally

unjustified, especially since she gave up so much and will live off just $2.5 million. just $2.5 million. >> anything above $100. that says to me the person she reports to is going to be pretty busy. she lives in new york city. what's not 100 bucks. >> they've got pictures of her taking the subway. >> different lifestyle now. chaos after a deadly plane crash. how the weather may have played a role in that accident.

beautiful voice. every tuesday afternoon music on the shore's shelf. today we've got sugar land's latest, "live on the inside." it includes their hits including this one. listen to this voice. ♪ turn around back so the windshield shows ♪ >> every note is perfect, even

live. nothing made up in the studio yes. >> you're a tough critic too. >> beautiful. i know going from that beautiful music into this story, i don't know. michael vick was back on the field throwing passes again to high school kids. rafer, was this like an appearance, charity thing? >> it wasn't a charity thing but it was an appearance facilitated by the high school coach since he was pulling his brett favre imitation throwing passes at his former high school in virginia to high school player. the coach invited him to talk with the kids. he wanted him to share his story with the kid. get this. his home town canceled the michael vick community celebration for this saturday. the organizers says vick already has an event planned with the humane society in atlanta. incidentally 26 teams said they will not sign vick. six have not commented. plaxico burress has been indicted by a grand jury on

weapons charges. as you may remember, he shot himself in a thigh in a manhattan nightclub but the gun wasn't licensed. now he's looking at a minimum of 3.5 years behind pars if convicted. he's pleaded not guilty. a 3.5-year sentence for carrying an unlicensed gun. what do you think of that. text us at 45688. with sure to start your text with rob about so it gets to us. lisa has said his punishment is shooting himself in the leg. if he has no prior conviction, whoo so long a sentence? there it is right there. meanwhile douglas in seattle says i hope plaxico goes to prison for his crime and does not get a deal simply because he's famous and has money. here's a weight los program. cutting out tequila. glendale white says he dropped over 30 pounds by simply cutting

out tequila. >> that must have been a lot of tell coo ya. >> there's no carbs in tell kia. he says he'll have an occasional glass of wine with >> there are no cashrbs in tequila. 100 calories per shot. new this morning, a plane skidded off a runway, trapping one of the pilots. thailand's aviation officials say crews are trying to get him out. the other pilot died and 37 people are injured. it is a bankkok airways plane. officials say the control tower warned the pilots of wind in the area. you've been warned not to talk about former employers on twitter or facebook, well, now, hln money expert clark howard explains why you shouldn't share your vacation plans with networking sites, either, until

afterwards. >> do you twitter, do you use facebook, do you use myspace? especially with twitter, anybody can follow you at any time. here's a special warning from kathy pender who is already hearing multiple reports of people who have twittered on facebook or myspace that they are going to be going away or posted pictures in realtime of when they're going to be on vacation, and in realtime came home and found that somebody burglarized their home. when you go on vacation, you may think you can trust everybody on your myspace or facebook page, you may think you can trust the people you twitter, but wait until you return from your vacation to show off that vacation. don't post pictures until after your return. don't post in advance when and where you're going, because why foul up your summer vacation? i'm clark howard. with more ways i want you to

protect yourself, go to cnn.com/clark d cnn.com/clarkhoward. >> clark will teach you how to save more, spend less and avoid getting ripped off. catch him on saturdays and sundays noon eastern right here on hln.

good morning! rise and shine, here comes the sun. i'm robin meade. it's so good to have you with us today. former president bill clinton is in north korea today. he's trying to negotiate the release of two american journalists. "cash for clunkers" is about to run out of gas, but the senate is debating whether to pump more money into it. a married man had to chew himself out of a sticky situation. now four women are in trouble for allegedly taking revenge because of his cheating ways! that's a story you don't want to miss. first, though, former president bill clinton is in north korea this morning. he's trying to win the release

of two american journalists held there. he was met by high-ranking officials and a girl carrying flowers. north korea sent laura ling and euna lee to 12 years in prison saying they crossed the border illegally. some say he's facing a delicate balancing act. >> he's going to face the same difficulty that everyone faces since these two women were caught. they want to keep these prisoners separate from everything else and they want a package deal. >> clinton said he wouldn't have gone without some understanding of the women's release. otherwise it would have been embarrassing for himself and the united states. money expert, jennifer westhoven, good morning to you. so how long do we have?

>> at this point, it's up to the dealer. i mean, they'll be taking a chance. what's going to happen to this depends on the senate. really, robin, we think it probably burned through all the money it went through already. technically, right now, it's just about over. but so here's the signs of life that come from the senate. yesterday a democrat and a republican, diane feinstein and susan collins, said they would support extending the program. we know the house said they had $2 billion for us, but we don't know about the senate. the senate says the "cash for clunkers" is poorly managed. the white house house said more than 200,000 people traded in their gas guzzlers and the new vehicles they're getting are about 10 miles a gallon more fuel efficient. "cash for clunkers" was originally supposed to go through november, but it was such a hit that even if it gets this $2 billion, the white house said it will probably only last

through september. for everyone who ran out there, great. everyone in the senate will be watching closely. >> if you want to do it, act now. a chemical leak sent almost 120 people to the hospital. now investigators are trying to figure out what the chemical was. the fumes started seeping from a trash disposal facility in bed d bedford, massachusetts yesterday. one started fainting, one was in critical condition. one said this. >> gas and propane mixed together. >> officials believe trash brought to the site caused the leak. a coroner is doing an autopsy on a child's body that was pulled from a canal in idaho. police don't know yet if it's eight-year-old robert manwell who has been missing since july 24. he reportedly disappeared after leaving his mother's apartment in boise where he was visiting. police have said there is evidence the boy disappeared

under suspicious circumstances. young kids who watch too much tv may be at a higher risk for high blood pressure, whether they're overweight or not. u.s. and spanish researchers looked at over 100 kids and found the less tv watched, the lower the blood pressure. kids usually eat junk food when watching tv and tv can lessen sleep and both are associated with blood pressure. they said they felt they were going to die when the flight from rio to houston shook and took a plunge. people were thrown against the ceiling and the walls. you can see how it shook out the wires and the oxygen masks. many say they were terrified. >> i felt like the airplane was going to crash. it felt like we were going to die. the first thing i thought about was our friends. >> it was suddenly top gun, very fast. it's like we hit a wall, you

know, bam! it was something terrible. >> well, the air france flight that woman referred to was also out of rio, and on that one, 228 people died when the plane crashed. yesterday's flight landed in miami where people were then treated. two companies accused of negligence in a deadly bridge collapse are getting new government contracts? minnesota sued the two companies over its interstate bridge disaster. that was two years ago. 13 people died and 145 were injured. but since then, they've got almost $50 million in new state contracts. a d.o.t. official says the companies are still considered qualified to bid for work. so a married man took one of his girlfriends to a hotel. but get this, court documents allege her sister, his other girlfriend, and his wife were waiting for him, and he was tied up and that his man region was glued to his stomach?

ouch! they then allegedly left. he got free by chewing through his bindings. well, you can see the women were arrested. embarrassed. >> something is twisted. that's not exactly the clandestine meeting he was anticipating, we can put it that way. assault. guy if you don't like him. >> oh, come on, bobby. >> i'm just saying it's assault. >> i'm not saying what they did was right. he was a victim, however, i'm saying four women. okay, then. >> fair enough. let me show you what's happening right now. you can make your own decision on that one. big thunderstorms rolling in out of the south. northern missouri right now, you're drying up behind this line, but the culprit is still in place and it's shelling some

moisture ahead of that. in k.c., severe thunderstorm watches. rain coming right out of the omaha area in nebraska. you can see all the lightning flashing right here. it's coming north of kansas city, but you're going to get a couple thunderstorms early this morning and then more action going in towards cincinnati. look at the line of thundershowers directly overhead. you have a ground stoppage right now in cincinnati. it's going toward louisville, so i think they'll get clipped later on today. all the spots i put in red, and that's basically around that cold frontal boundary as it slides to the south and another one coming to the leflt. tulsa, 105 to 110. charlotte, i was looking at your tower cam earlier, it's going to be a hot one today: 94 degrees. wcnc, my old place that i was at

when i got here. i lost it by one contract. they kicked me out. >> no, they didn't. >> yes, they said i was too northern. hurt my feelings. i had a tear coming down and everything. >> you are what you are. can't help that. >> sorry about that. i don't kn . >> i don't know if you can actually tell someone that. bill clinton is trying to negotiate the release of two american journalists, but why is he the one in north korea today? we're going to explore the options.

all righty. our salute to the troops goes to lance corporal randy conover today. this is from his mom. he just got married, and

especially mom, can't wait until he komsz home. >> good morning, robin. i'm from kentucky, and i want to say hello to my son lance corporal randy conover. we miss him every day and can't wait until he comes home in october. i miss his sense of humor, i miss his jokes, i miss my little boy. >> thank you for the message. i'm sure a lot of people certainly know what you're feeling. right now former president bill clinton is trying to negotiate freedom for two u.s. women in prison in north korea. he landed there early this morning. remember, laura ling and euna lee were sentenced on charges of entering the country illegally to conduct a smear campaign. correspondent richard lui, good morning to you. why send former president clinton when his wife is secretary of state? >> clinton is greatly respected

in north korea because he almost visited the country near the end of his presidency. that's what was told to the washington post. they met with clinton in 2000. the north koreans have a lot of nostalgia for the clinton 2000. >> who would have been the first choice, though? >> north korea balked at the first two suggestions. she says president obama's administration offered to send former vice president al gore. as you know he's a co-founder of current tv where the two women worked as journalists. she also says that the obama camp offered to send new mexico governor bill richardson.

he helped arrange the release back in 2006. how many of us could live a whole year with no trash, making none at all. one couple has gone four weeks trying to do that. >> i think it's easier than we think. it really is. >> we explore how little trash they hope to have after 365 days. the sox are doing as well as they've done since november. a three-week rally got even better yesterday. money expert jennifer westhoven, good morning to you. is it because we're seeing some signs that things are turning around? >> we are, and it's mostly the signs of the economy. one of them you've seen, but there were many of them out there, so that helped the first auto sale. they got a big jolt from "cash for clunkers." if you go to a mall and there's cars all around, you probably

see a sign for that. there are signs of life in factories and construction spending. things you might not see in ordinary life, but the economists see the reports on that and they get excited. all of that good news in a bad economy. that really helped the three-week rally hit a milestone. the s&p 500 hit 1,000 for the first time since election day, the nasdaq up and the dow. part of that money is paid to the stocks. oil is rallying, too. it went over $71 a barrel for the fifrs tirst time in a month. that's bad news for the gas prices. it reports the spike we've seen in oil prices, nothing like the old days but it could threaten the economic recovery around the world and how you're going to see it?

slightly higher gas prices. still not so bad but they're up two weeks in a row. aaa's national average, $2.56 for a gallon of regular. if you're traveling this morning, get ready for the gas prices and whatever bob has to tell you. >> the thunderstorms are not moving very fast and they're still just off towards the west and coming on in. that's cbg, that's what it looks like in cincinnati. let me show you the rest of the delays. nashville, detroit, cleveland and st. louis all going to see some delays today, all less than an hour. yesterday was an 81-minute delay in san francisco. hopefully it's a little shorter than that today. we've been telling you about three american hikers who crossed iran's border but never left the country. iran has been silent about it, until now.

an iraqi extremist group blamed for attacking u.s. troops says it won't do it anymore. two iraqi government officials said the iraqis struck a deal with a group called "league with the rightoues."

a big name in the signal light has come out against the nomination of judge sotomayor to the supreme court. senator john mccain says sotomayor is a judicial activist. >> an individual who does not appreciate the common sense limitations on judicial power in our democratic system of government ultimately lacks a key qualification for a lifetime appointment to the bench. for this reason and no other, i am unable to support judge sotomayor's nomination. >> the senate could begin debate today on sotomayor's nomination to the supreme court. she is expected to win easy confirmation. six republicans have announced that they will join the democrats in voting to confirm her. new this morning, a co-pilot is still stuck in the cockpit of a plane that skidded off a runway and crashed into a control tower.

the pilot was killed and at least 34 people were hurt. the bangkok's flight was landing in stormy weather on an island. an nfl player who accidentally shot himself in the thigh now could be going to jail for over three years! well -- >> there is no doubt what this guy did was stupid, but the law is the law, and we want to know, you, the viewer, what do you think about this law? you know the story. former giants receiver plaxico burris took a gun out of his pants, shot his thigh. the gun was unlicensed, and if he's convicted, he will get a minimum of 3.5 years behind bars. you know our view, what is yours. a 3.5-year sentence for carrying an unlicensed gun. what do you think about that? text us at 45688 or you can

e-mail us at cnn.com/robin. hit the "contact us" button at the bottom of the page. >> dwayne said, it's time to make athletes pay. they think their bav the law. >> another one said, i think it's a little extreme. however, why did he have a gun in a nightclub? that gun could have gone off and shot someone dead. his 91-year-old grandmother with whom he was very close had passed away just a few days ago. listen. >> patrick's mom passed away and my grandmother a few days ago. i think of my mom right now. >> good for hamlin. >> you know what? seriously, good for him, and that's all right that you're emotional in front of the chamraz. that's fine.

>> we applaud him for that. and i applaud this guy, reggie wayne, showing up like he was there to fix a pothole. his whole idea was to show that it was, quote, time to go to work. i'm more concerned, how did he rent that dump truck? >> or his whole idea was to give him some camera time. >> put on a costume, we'll put you on tv. remember the pie localilot supposedly fell asleep at the cockpit and went right past the destination in hawaii. well, it turns out he had a sleep disorder. he was diagnosed with destructive sleep apnea which can cause daytime sleepiness. both the pilots were also on their third early morning shift in a row. they have not commented on the findings. a robot has been designed to

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you're done? she pulled a fast one! ( laughs ) new windex outdoor all-in-one. a streak-free shine in half the time. s.c. johnson, a family company. . breaking news, former president bill clinton is trying to persuade the north koreans to release two american journalists being held there. he arrived in north korea this morning. laura ling and euna lee were sentenced to 12 years in prison after they were accused of illegally crossing the border. a rocket hit kabul this morning. the city has been relatively violence free compared to the rest of afghanistan. the taliban said there will be more attacks before this month's elections there. president obama celebrated the new gi bill with hundreds of young vets in virginia yesterday. he called it a moral obligation

to our servicemen and women. the updated bill expands iraq and afghanistan. former president bush signed it last year. those are just a few of the stories we're following today. first i wanted to see how you are and check up on you. morning, sunshine. i'm robin meade. well, breaking news. one expert says former president bill clinton would not be in north korea this morning without some kind of deal on the table. clinton is trying to get two american journalists released. laura ling and euna lee have been in prison since march. they're facing 12 years for entering the country illegally. the question is, what should we expect from this trip? >> the fact he's actually going there to north korea probably means that they've already made the arrangements for the release of the two reporters. so it's most likely that when former president clinton gets there, he'll be coming back with

the release of the two reporters, so that in itself is quite significant, because this has been a -- sort of a thorn in the side of north korea-u.s. relations. >> of course, correspondent richard lui, if there is already a possible deal for the release of the journalists, what else might clinton do in north korea, then? >> they talked about other possible agenda items that were discussed. listen to what he said. >> will clinton be carrying a letter from barack obama to meet kim jong il? will he meet kim jong il? if he doesn't, there will be a lot of questions raised. >> he will get a reed on north korea's leader, kim jong il. it was reported he had a stroke last year. kim jong ilwill have to meet with the former u.s. president. if he doesn't meet with clinton, we'll know he's on life support. that's interesting. >> good point to make there.

where is the secretary of state, though, hilary clinton? what about her? >> recently she traded snults with north korea's leaders, though. she compared north korea's regime to children and unruly teens clamoring for attention. they described senator clinton as an an intelligent woman. they approved michael jackson's mother getting custody of the three children. the mother of the two oldest, debbie rowe, did not object in exchange for visitation rights. the dermatologist, the doctor, said he wants to be involved in the kids' lives? >> arnold klein comes in and he doesn't ask for custody, he doesn't ask for visitation, he

just sort of asks to be invited for thanksgiving every year. >> how can that happen in a custody situation? >> the thing is, what he's asking for, the law doesn't have any provision for and he doesn't have any legal status -- he's rumored to be their parents, but he's never been proven to be the father. >> well, in an interview last month with abc, the doctor said that to the best of his knowledge, he is not the kids' biological father, but he says he can't rule it out. by the way, yesterday, the judge ruled the doctor's request should not be part of monday's hearing. your cholesterol level could someday affect the health of your brain. a study released just 90 minutes ago by kaiser permanente found people with borderline personality has -- borderline cholesterol, you have a chance

of getting alzheimer's later in life. a woman is suing a college because she can't get a job. trina thompson graduated from monroe college in april, with a 2.7 gpa, i might add. since then she's only heard from a couple employers. she wants her $70,000 tuition back, plus $2,000 for job stress. the college said they can't guarantee a job, but they are committed to helping in the job search. 35 minutes past the hour. if we have one idea about the weather today, rainy where? >> good mornging, robin. big time action in chicago, also indiana. action in northern kansas city in the suburbs, stretching into missouri and lower parts of iowa, too. this area is getting slammed right now in parts of ohio. cincinnati, a little further

here, you can see the radar picking up thunderstorms in south indianapolis stretching in towards cincinnati. that's what it looks like right there. let's see what it looks like live on that tower cam. it should be dark and pretty ugly. thunderstorms right overhead in cincinnati. look at the lightning flashing right there. that's all live. you have some strong stuff overhead. it's not severe. severe stuff is still on the atlanta side. this one particular storm, over four inches of rain has fallen since last night. also severe thunderstorm watches for northern parts of missouri. coming out of nebraska, the heavy rain is falling to the east. severe thunderstorm warnings are all in the spots we have in orange. it's going to be hot and humid. take you live to new orleans. crescent city is going to be hot and humid today. it's going to feel like 105 with the heat index starting to look real lovely.

that's new orleans. >> thank you and good morning to our folks watching from there. was ryan o'neal really devoted to farrah fawcett in her final days? she hit on a woman at her funeral, and wait until you hear who that woman was!

here's a look at the morning paper. you don't have to go outside in that robe. the new york times reports it could be decades before laid-off workers get back to their old salary levels. a study found that people who lost their jobs in the '80s are still making the average of 15 to 20% less than they would have

if they were not laid off. a doctor says you should get an ammonia vaccine while we wait for a swine flu vaccine to be ready. they said many of the deaths were caused by a strain of pneumonia. critics say there is no proof, though, that the pneumonia vaccine takes away complications of the virus. more than 15 states have laws keeping drivers at least three feet away from bicycle riders. and that's a look at the newspapers. police hauled away drugs by the truckload from a church concert! that's from pittsburgh affiliate wtae. it happened at the church of universal love and music. now, the d.a. says they found enough mushrooms, lsd, bongs, and pot brownies to fill three trailers, and the church wasn't

charged. >> as far as drugs are concerned, we don't condone drugs, but whenever you deal with music, you find drugs. >> huh? his attorney says this is malicious prosecution because of a past lawsuit. the d.a. denies this. >> universal love and music? >> church of universal love and music. yeah. that's just the name of t. actor ryan o'neal made a shocking admission to vanity fair magazine. he says he was so fraz zeled at farrah fawcett's funeral that he hit on a woman who turned out to be his own daughter, tatum o'neal. she's like, dad, it's me. now they're questioning whether his devotion to fawcett was just an act. she reportedly left the bulk of her estate to redmond and left nothing to ryan. >> she was like, yeah, he came

up. and she's like, it's me, daddy. president obama promised no tax hikes for the middle class. money expert jennifer westhoven is here. now there's allegations he's backtracking. >> some people behind the scenes are saying, i don't know how we can afford this without taxes. because on sunday, we talked about this, here were these two top money men out on the talk show circuit and they were asking, oh, is he going to raise taxes on the middle class and they kind of did that mealy-mouth thing like, oh, yeah, maybe it will to meet the deficit. the president's press secretary says he shot that down. >> the president's clear commitment in the clearest terms possible, that he's not raising taxes on those who make less than $250,000 a year. >> one proposal coming out of

congress is to add a tax to the wealthiest americans to help pay for the overhaul. they want to finally help americans with mortgage modification. so later today, it will be publishing the names of companies that are lagging behind federal efforts to help the housing crisis. and of course, the white house idea has been if you help people stay in their homes, the bank stays more stable, they get the money eventually, it just might take longer. the families stay intact, it's good for the whole economy. j.p. morgan, chase, wells fargo, washington mutual show the poorest record of assistance. >> okay. no more stories? nope. thank you very much. okay. check out the block in one town yesterday that hissed. this is not what the cops wanted to see, and persuading that guy

to move on turned out to be a big problem.

every tuesday new music hits the stores and today we've got the debut album from a group called gloriana. their music includes a lot of four-part harmony. they've got some ban jo and fiddle in the mix. i want to hear a little bit more. [ music playing ] quarter to the hour. an angry alligator brought traffic to a standstill on a south carolina highway. this ten-foot gator hissed at passing cars. it took state troopers and the department of animal resources an hour and a half to pull the

gator back into the brush. they then released him back into the wild, but far, far away from the highway. he was just having a bad day. michael vick was back on the field again with high school students. here's rafer with more on why he was playing with high school students. >> his former high school coach asked him to come and talk with the kids, so vick did and obliged. he threw passes to football players at a high school in virginia and afterwards shared his story with the kids. also, vick's home town of newport news canceled its michael vick community celebration for this saturday. i didn't know they were having that. the organizers said vick already planned an event the same day with the humane society in atlanta. the organizers also said they got a few protests over the event. plaxico burris has been indicted by a grand jury on weapons charges. burris accidentally sholt himself in the thigh at a

manhattan nightclub, but the gun wasn't licensed. he's looking at a minimum of 3.5 years if he's convicted. a 3.5-year sentence for carrying an unlicensed gun, what do you think about that? text your response to 45688 and make sure you include robin's name so it gets to us. katy e mailed, i'm confused how this sports figure gets three years for this and another gets less than a year in jail for admitted vehicular manslaughter and dui? he sent this on our facebook page. well, if it's the mandatory minimum, then it sounds about just right. just saying. glendale white says he dropped 30 pounds in six months by cutting out tequila. that's him before and here he is now. he says he was a big petrone

consumer and was drinking a lot. 30 pounds just from cutting out one piece of alcohol? he says he feels great, though. >> good for him. wow. thank you. >> people are going, calories, how is that? the senate is debating whether to continue the "cash for clunkers" program. in the next 30 minutes, what people are saying about it at the car dealerships. you've been warned not to talk about your former employers on twitter or facebook. well, now hln money expert clark howard tells you why you shouldn't share your vacation plans, either, until after. >> do you twitter, do you facebook, do you myspace? remember, on twitter, anyone can follow you at any time. here's a special warning from writer kathy pender who has already heard multiple reports from people who have twittered

or facebooked that they are going on vacation or posted pictures that they are going on vacation out that somebody camed burglarized their home. when are you going on vacation, you may think you can trust everybody on your myspace or facebook page. you may think you can trust the people you twitter, but wait until you return from a vacation to show off that vacation. don't post pictures until after your return. don't post in advance when and where you're going. because why foul up your summer vacation? i'm clark howard with more ways i want you to protect yourself. go to cnn.com/clarkhoward. >> clark will teach to you save more, spend less and avoid getting ripped off. catch him on saturdays and sundays at noon, right here on hln. robin, on the facebook now i see, huh? >> you know, you are as well.

this is new to me. will you be my friend? >> i am too? >> the whole team is. but there are a couple. imposter site too. which i'll find for you in a second. what the address is. you go ahead, i'll find it. >> let me zero in right now on cincinnati. a ground stoppage until 8:30 eastern. it has been extended to that period of time. here is covington. look at the thunderstorm complex right overhead, gusty winds. even hail out of this thing right now. ground stop there. also, a ground stop in atlanta right now because of the fog. that's until 8:30 as well. we saw them coming, get out of here by this afternoon. here is what we have for the rest of the day. norms, orlando to nashville. cincinnati, another round is a possibility later today. cleveland, st. louis, detroit. 30 minutes to an hour. and more on the fog, atlanta, and san francisco. march in a half hour. >> find us at

facebook.com/morningexpresshln. >> there is an icon with you standing there like this. that's the one, just in case you need to know. this is taking green to extreme. how one couple is trying not to make any trash for a year. @@@ñ

good morning. must be your turn to make the coffee. make the cereal. do something, right? get up early for work. i'm robin meade. good to have you with us. here is what's going on today. former president bill clinton on the ground right now in north korea, trying to free two u.s. journalists, why bill clinton, was he the first choice? and the cash for clunkers program has been going through the roof now. how long will you be able to take advantage of that deal, though? and a young woman suing her college because she can't get a job. one legal expert says that her lawsuit could stop her from ever getting hired. good point. north koreans met president

bill clinton this morning with handshakes and flowers. he is there trying to win the release of two jailed american journalists. north korea has sentenced laura ling and euna lee to 12 years in prison, saying they proce inini border illegally. some critics say clinton faces a delicate balancing act. >> he is going to face the same difficulty that the administration has been facing ever since these two women were caught. bill clinton and the administration want to keep the negotiations for their release separate from everything else, separate to the nuclear issues. the north koreans, since that is their trump card, they want everything as a package deal. >> clinton would not have gone without some sort of understanding about the women's release, otherwise it might be an embarrassment for him and the united states. our correspondent richard lui with more on that in a moment. new this morning, a copilot has been freed after getting

trapped in the cockpit of a plane that skidded off a runway and crashed into a control tower. the pilot was killed and at least 34 people were hurt. the bangkok airways flight was landing in stormy weather in a thy thai resort island. the cash for clunkers program could run out of money by the end of the week. customers at one dealership think it will happen. >> otherwise, they are going to leave a lot of small businessmen in a lurch, because they have written a lot of deals and so messed up on the website to understand, they may have hundreds of thousands of dollars out there, and that would put a big hurt to them. so i think they have to. >> right now, they've told us that they are going to honor any deals that have been written, and that's what we have to live with. i mean, we're getting them in the system as quick as we can. >> the white house says that cash for clunkers has helped

almost a quarter million people trade in their gas guzzlers, and the new vehicles have been more fuel efficient by about 10 miles per gallon. cash for clunkers were originally intended to run through november, but even if it gets an extra $2 billion it will probably only last through september. passengers on yesterday's continental flight that hit hard turbulence said they thought they were going to die. 26 people were hurt when the flight from rio to houston shook and took a plunge. people were thrown against the ceiling and the walls. you can see how it shook out the wires and the oxygen masks in some of the video that we'll show you. many were just terrified. >> i felt like we were going to crash, like we were going to die. the first thing i thought of was air france. >> it was very suddenly tough and very fast. you know, it's like we hit a wall. it was bam! it was something terrible.

>> the air france flight that the woman had referred to was also out of rio, and 228 people died when that plane crashed. yesterday's flight landed in miami, where people were treated. young kids who watch too much tv may be at awe higher risk for high blood pressure, whether they are overweight or not. u.s. and spanish researchers looked at 100 kids. the less tv watched, the lower the blood pressure. kids use usually eat junk food when they watch tv. a chemical leak sent almost 120 people to the hospital. now, investigators are trying to figure out what that chemical was. fumes started seeping from a trash disposal facility in new bedford, massachusetts. they were so strong that some people fainted. two people are in critical condition. officials believe that trash brought to the site caused the leak. okay. so a married man took one of his

girlfriends to a motel. but get this. court documents allege that her sister, his other girlfriend, and his wife, were waiting for him. so he was tied up and his man region was glued to his stomach. then they left. he got freed by chewing through his bindings. the women were arrested and one of them says the story has gotten twisted and she's embarrassed. >> unsavory story. i can't believe a classy motel like that would have such shenanigans going on. >> then at just makes people ho in the newsroom. a couple of areas of concern. one, a batch of thunderstorm directly overhead from cincinnati. another one around kansas city. this action is sliding to the east. the yellow box, severe thunderstorm watches about to

expire, but the thunderstorms are approaching into areas getting in toward western illinois some of be prepared there. gusty winds out of this. look at the rain and thundershowers coming in. blossoming into southern ohio, northern kentucky, lexington, light rain with most of the action, bulk of the heavy stuff up toward your north. look at lightning flashing all there. thunderstorms off to the west. more coming off to the east. let me show you some tape from a half hour ago. we rolled on the tower cam. clouds clowere dark out there. no severe thunderstorm for you. you saw that bolt. pretty cool. all drifting toward the east. action will re-fire later today. and here is the other area of concern. coming out of the kansas city area. you zoom in toward these radar pictures, out of nebraska and in towards northern missouri.

a big complex overhead. more on that in a bit. take you down live towards atlanta. fog out there. temperatures about 93 with a haze there for the morning. for this afternoon, a slight chance of a thunderstorm. more details in a half hour. >> thank you. all right. a big name has come out against president obama's supreme court pick, and it's someone that he got to know very well last fall. plus, a former president is negotiating in north korea to free to u.s. journalists imprisoned there. why bill clinton was picked for the mission over some of the white house's other choices.

good morning. we always pause, salute our troops. our salute to the troops goes t? lance corporal randy conover.

ith from his mom, and he just got married and everyone, especially mom, can't wait until he comes home. >> good morning. my name is rena mcdaniel from kentucky and i want to say hello to my son, randy steven conover. we miss him and worry about him every day. we love him and can't wait until he comes home at the end of october. miss his sense of humor, his jokes. i miss my little boy. >> rena, thank you so much. if you have somebody in the service, why don't you salute them by going to cnn.com/robin. breaking news. former president bill clinton trying to negotiate the release of two u.s. journalists. laura ling and euna lee were sentenced on charges of entering the country illegally to conduct a smear campaign. richard lui joins us now. why send former president bill clinton when his wife is the secretary of state? >> there is some history here.

bill clinton visited great respect in north korea because he almost visited the country near the end of his presidency. the top military commander in north korea met with clinton in 2000. and another expert told "the l.a. times" that the north koreans have a lot of nostalgia for the clinton administration. >> you hear that former president clinton was not the first choice. who would have been? >> we're hearing from that north korea balked at the first two suggestions. president obama's administration offered to send former vice presidential gore to start, the founder of current tv, where the two women work. she also says that new mexico governor bill richardson was offered. he helped secure a release of an

american in 2003. a big name in the senate has come out against the nomination of sonia sotomayor. john mccain says sotomayor is a judicial activist. >> an individual who doesn't appreciate the common sense limitations of judicial power in our democratic system of government ultimately lacks a key qualification for a life time appointment to the bench. for this reason, and no other, i'm unable to support judge sotomayor's nomination. >> the senate could begin debate on sotomayor's confirmation. you know what? doctors are doing as well as

they have done since november. a three-week rally. we're feeling good. >> it's not really we're recovering from the whole recession, but maybe from parts of the financial crisis. a lot of good signs yesterday. auto sales got a big jolt from cash for clunkers. and that's something you may have seen yourself. people talking about it or out at the mall, some of the signs at the dealerships. but signs of life at the nation's factories. construction spending rose. it adds up to good news in a bad economy and meant a rally for the stock market a three-week rally going on. milestones. s & p 500, over 1,000. nasdaq, over 2,000. and dow over,000. th -- 9,000. maybe you don't see it. all of your money is linked into there and it helps companies feel more secure too. maybe they'll start hiring soon.

here is the trouble with the lallies. oil is rallies too. over $71 per barrel the first time in a month. bad news for gas prices. the spike could threaten the economic recovery around the world. how do you see oil prices most directly? of course, at the gas station. aaa says it will cost you $2.56 for a gallon of regular, on average and this is two weeks in a row where every morning, you are probably seeing prices higher and higher, not too bad relatively speaking at $2.56. ruth madoff, the wife of convicted ponzi schemer, ralph madoff, agrees that any time she spends more than $100, she will check in with a court-pibted trustee. her lawyer called this totally unjustified, since she gave up her claim to more than $80 million and keeping just $2.5

million. boy, that's like being married. >> did you say that's like being married? >> yeah. >> you have to report where you're spending money. all right. check out the big roadblock in one town yesterday this is not what the cops wanted to see. and persuading the big guy to move on turned out to be a big problem.

you are like this close to catching me yawning. probably you too, right? let me wake you up by looking at the morning papers ""the new york times" report it could be decades before laid off workers get back to their old salary levels. people laid off in the '80s are still making 15% to 20% less than they would if they weren't laid off. doctors say that you could get a pneumonia vaccine while waiting for the h1n1 vaccine. critics say that there's no proof that new mona v the vacci

prevent complications from the virus. 15 states have laws that require drivers to stay three feet away from bike riders. an nfl player who accidentally shot himself in the thigh could be going to jail for more than three years. here is rafer with more on that. >> good morning. >> to compare, how long did michael vick have to stay in? >> 23 months. so less than that. and donte stallworth, 30 days. plaxico burress has been indicted by a grand jury on weapons charges. he took a gun into a man hat an nightclub. it fell out, shot him in the leg. if convicted, per state law, a minimum 3 1/2 years. he's pleaded not guilty and we're about news and views what is yours? a 3 1/2-year sentence for carrying an unlicensed gun. what do you think about that?

text us at 45688. start your text with robin's name or e-mail us at cnn.com/robin. click contact us at the bottom. melody said on facebook -- nascar driver denny hamlin, hadn't one a race in 50 races. his mother and a crew member's mother just passed away. >> patrick's mom passed away, our tire guy, a couple weeks ago and my grandmother a few days ago, so, you know, i think of my mom right now. >> hamlin's grandmother watched

every race and always wore his number 11 on her socks. lastly, let's end with you wacky video the annual lawn mower races in england. however, these guys had a little trouble. bad weather made it difficult for them to get around. i don't mean to laugh at the man's misfortunate. it's normally a 12-hour race, this year they only raced for four and they did take the blades out of the mowers. check out this angry, angry alligator. it brought traffic to a standstill on a south carolina highway. just hissing and thrashing about. having a bad day. it took state troopers and the department of natural resources about an hour and a half to rope the ten-foot gator and pull him back into the brush. they released him back into the mild, but it was far from the highway. >> oh, man. >> how about the lady leaning out the window? >> taunting him.

>> no, no, no. don't lean out the window. >> the medula oblangata is what makes them so angry. that's from "water boy." cincinnati, still under a grouped stop. rain directly overhead. covington, the ground stop ends in about 9 minutes. may get extended because thunderstorms still over there. here's what we have for the rest of the day. thunderstorms will form in other areas. nashville, cincinnati, cleveland, detroit, st. louis too. morning fog. you had a delay in atlanta that has been lifted but now san francisco as a possibility of outgoing delay could start in a half hour. more in a half hour. >> thanks. how many of us could live for a whole year without making any trash? one couple has gone four weeks trying to do just that. >> it's easier than we thought it would be. it really, really is. >> you will not believe how

little trash this couple hopes to have after 365 days.

breaking news. former president bill clinton in north korea, trying to persuade the north koreans to release two american journalists being held there. laura ling and euna lee sentenced to 12 years in prison after north korea convicted of them of illegally crossing the border. they want talk about the trip for fear of jeopardizing the mission. seven men accused of committing violent jihad will be in court. the men were arrested last week. some of them are accused of taking trips to jordan, kosovo, and pakistan to engage in terrorist acts.

president obama celebrated the new g.i. bill with hundreds of young veterans. the updated bill expands education benefits for those who fought in iraq and afghanistan. former president bush signed it last year. those were the headlines. come on in the room and sit yourself down. i'm robin meade. 30 minutes past the hour. morning, sunshine. three people fighting for custody that was cut from her mother's womb. darlene hayes was eight months pregnant when she was found dead last week. her aunt, uncle, and estranged boyfriend say the girl belongs with them. the boyfriend's spokesperson spoke yesterday. >> he called her isabel. >> who named her isabel? >> darlene did. changing her middle name from marie to justice. because this is justice for darlene. >> haynes had a restraining

order against her estranged boyfriend. she had another daughter, an 18 mold. already in custody. h her grandmother is raising the other two children. bill clinton is trying to negotiate freedom for the two u.s. women being held in north korea. there are possibly other items on the agenda for clinton's trip. richard lui with more. >> some worries that north korea might sell nuclear technology to others. and we talked about this situation. take a listen to what he said. >> will clinton be carrying a letter from barack obama to kim jong-il, will he meet kim jong-il? if he doesn't there, will be a lot of questions raised. >> the united states may get a read on the health of kim jong-il, he reportedly had a stroke last year. a thinktank president told "the

new york times" that kim jong-il will have to meet with the former u.s. president. if he doesn't, we'll know he's on life support are interesting and a good point where is secretary of state hillary clinton? why not send her? >> she's in africa right now and recently traded insults with north korea leaders as she compared the leadership to unruly teens. and they called her a funny lady and by no means intelligent. that's what she's doing right now. >> yikes. >> yeah. >> and yet you have the man who is her husband there. >> there are a lot of cross sections here, robin. you're right. >> richard, thank you. a woman is suing her college because she can't find a job. trina thompson graduated from new york's monroe college with a 2.7 gpa. since then, she's only heard

from a couple of employers. she want her $70,000 tuition back, plus $2,000 for the stress of her job search. mike galanos talked to a civil trial attorney about this case. >> many times, people don't quite think before they file lawsuits and some good, practical advice by her attorney might be don't file this lawsuit, because for heaven's sake, who is going to hire you now that you've done so? >> there is some damage after the fact. who is going to want to deal with that? doesn't look good. >> yeah. the college says no one can guarantee employment, but it is committed to helping all students search. 34 minutes past the hour. i think the claims were something along the lines she felt that maybe they helped students who had a better gpa, helped them more with their job search. >> i bet. >> okay. all right. let's talk to bob right now. 34 minutes past the hour.

you have rain going on. who is having a bad morning rush? >> right now, it's around northern kentucky, around louisville and big thunderstorms rolling past cincinnati right now. turning from severe weather into one batch of heavy rain toward the south and east. heavy rain out here. it rains itself out over central kentucky. before that happens, you can see an inch, two inches of rain. you can see the radar picture, most of it south of cincinnati. you get to the west. another batch of thunderstorms and the severe thunderstorm watch in effect. we have a big thunderstorm complex rolling in toward kansas city. you can zoom in, see right here, in the radar picture, most of the driving down toward the south. heavy rain and the whole thing will spread toward missouri by st. louis. and here is what it looks like. temperatures, 89 to 90 degrees. on the warm side. watch for powerful thunderstorms that develop later this afternoon. the whole area will see a chance for severe weather. main threat today, gusty threats

and large hail. pull the map out farther, and you can see the reason why. the cold front from the great lakes down through the region. the area in red is probably the most likely spot you will get the severe weather. and another batch coming across wyoming and parts of colorado too. below the cold front, hot. heat index today, temperature plus the humidity, how it feels on your skin. 100 to 105 for tulsa, oklahoma. out the west, hot around phoenix, the desert. temperatures climb to near 150 degrees for phoenix by later this afternoon. more on that coming up in a half hour. the entire area under an extensive heat warning will last through friday morning. >> they are hot. >> baking. smoking hot. at 11:00 a.m. eastern, the feds targeti ining drivers who . the government is going to kick off a program to stop people from driving distracted. and at noon eastern, vice

president obiden and president obama will have lunch with lawmakers. and interesting going on at the white house, alan agagreens arrived at the white house earlier this morning. he was the nation's top anchor for nearly 20 years, and is he considered by some in the financial -- some the financial architect of some of the most prosperous economic times in recent history. maybe looking to glean some information there. we've been telling you about three american hiker who's crossed iran's border but never left the country. iran has been silent about it, until now.

good morning. 20 minutes to the hour. iran is finally confirming it has arrested three american hikers. that is new this morning. iran says they have been charged with illegal entry for crossing an unmarked border from iraq in this area. the americans are shane bauer, sarah shourd and joshua fattal. secretary of state hilary clinton is urging iran to provide more info. >> obviously, we are concerned. we want this matter brought to a resolution as soon as possible. and we call on the iranian government to help us determine the whereabouts of the three missing americans and return them as quickly as possible. >> well, a website linked to iran's revolutionary guard says the three americans infiltrated to iran after being warned they were close to the border.

look at the flames. that say huge grass fire that broke out in idaho yesterday. county officials say that it burned nearly 600 acres before firefighters were able to contain it. nobody was injured. homes are fine. a fire chief says earlier report said lightning may have started the fire. the cash for clunkers program is still going. but, honey, probably running on fumes. so jennifer westhoven, i guess if people want to take advantage, they better act quickly. >> it might not even be there, frankly. if you go to your dealer, it's really not clear what's going to happen. look, the house already approved $2 billion to keep the plan going. it hinges on the senate. it's up to the senate. >> if it ain't broke, don't fix it. it's working in every way. it's working as a stimulus, to help families, to improve mileage. what we need to do here is not put on the brakes, but step on

the gas. keep the program going. >> that's democrat chuck schumer who supports the program. but critics say that it's wasteful. they don't believe it's cutting oil demand or helping the environment. take a listen. >> the government should not be in the used car business and this is a great example of how badly the government manages things. >> and that's republican jim demint. what the white house says is almost a quarter million americans have traded in their gas guzzlers for new vehicles that get an extra ten miles a gallon if this plan is not approved, it's not clear if you will still be able to get it. what's happening down at the dealer lot, the white house is saying they are open until friday, but they are afraid they won't get the government money. so they'll be on the hook for it. so that's why right now, it's just really not clear. all up in the air. if you want to try it, go for it. never hurts to ask. >> we'll let you know for sure

if it gets the extra funding. give a hamster a piece of popcorn, and that's apparently all that the hamster will care about. this is today's viral video. he cannot be distracted he's like i want my popcorn. 6 million people have watched this. even as the guy is playing the keyboards around him, he wants his popcorn. he does yoga with the little guy, and still eating his popcorn. we dug it up for you on youtube. careful, little buddy. was ryan o'neal really devoted to farrah fawcett during her final days. the actor admitted that he hit on a woman during her funeral. wait until you hear who the woman was.

now, you've been warned before not to talk about former employers or girlfriends or boyfriends on twitter or facebook.

now hln money expert clark howard explains why you shouldn't share vacation plans on social networking sites either, until afterward. >> do you twitter? do you use facebook, myspace? especially with twit eveter, any can follow you at any time. here is a special warning from financial writer kathleen pender, who is hearing multiple reports of people who have twittered or myspaced or facebooked that they are going to be on vacation, going here, there, everywhere, or posting pictures real time of where they are on vacation, and real time found that somebody came and burglarized their home. here's the thing. when are you going on vacation, you may think you can trust everybody on your myspace or facebook page. you may think you can trust the people you twitter. but wait until you return from a vacation to show off that vacation. don't post pictures until after your return.

don't post in advance when and where you're going, because why foul up your summer vacation? i'm clark howard with more ways i want you to protect yourself. go to cnn.com/clarkhoward. >> clark will teach you to save more, spend less, avoid getting ripped off. catch him noon eastern on saturdays and sundays on hln. new this morning, a copilot has been freed after being trapped in a cockpit of a plane that skidded off a runway. the pilot was killed and 34 people injured. the bangkok airways flight was landing in stormy weather on a thai resort island. ryan o'neal made a shocking admission. he says he was so frazzled that he hit on a beautiful blond woman that turned out to be his daughter, tatum. daddy, it's me. in the same article, o'neal's son, redmond, questioned whether

his father's devotion to fawcett was just an act. she gave the bulk of her estate to redmond and left nothing to ryan. michael vick back on the field with some high school kids. what's going on? >> his home state of virginia is really opening itself up to michael vick. right now, video of him playing at a high school after his former coach asked him to make an appearance. throwing some passes to players in virginia, and afterward, he shared his story with the kids. meanwhile this saturday at newport news, it was supposed to be michael vick community celebration day. but the organizer canceled the event when he said vick has an event planned with the had you humane society in atlanta. and vick has served 23 months for dog fighting and maximum coburress is looking at 3 1/2 years for carrying an unlicensed

gun. remember, he accidentally shot himself in the thigh in a nightclub. 3 1/2 years the minimum if he's found guilty. he pleaded not guilty. we're taking your thoughts on this. what do you think about that? text your response to 45688. also, e-mail us to cnn.com/robin. hit the contact us button at the bottom. bill sent thus text -- meanwhile, an anonymous e-mailer says -- and forget dieting. titans running back lendale white dropped 30 pounds in six months by cutting out tequila. he was a big consumer of petron. that's a lot of petron, man. he says he feels great, though.

>> i bet he does. good >> that's sports. >> how many calories would that be? >> there's 100 calories in one shot of tequila. i looked it up. so what are you talking there? >> a lot. hi, bob. >> good morning, robin. one hundred calories in -- >> you can tell that everybody is on the food counting programs because they say, i can have one of those because it's only one point. >> looking at the radar picture, most of the action is down to the south. there may be thunderstorms later on this afternoon. if you're traveling out to

orlando, nashville, cincinnati, cleveland, 30 minute to one-hour delay there is. atlanta, a delay in the last hour. so good news there. san francisco, an 81-minute delay yesterday. same scenario. probably about an hour delay there. that should last until about 1:00 p.m. >> thank you. the football player has to stop going around saying, you don't know me. >> all right. the taliban says that it's time to show the city has been relatively violent compared to the rest of afghanistan. well, here's a family reunion 70 years in the making. how two brothers found each other after being separated at

birth. ú#

hello. we8 welcome to tuesday. i'm robin meade. good morning, sunshine. good to see you. here's what is going on today. former president bill clinton is in north korea negotiating the release of two american journalists. but apparently he was not the first choice. it could be a matter of days before the cash for clunkers program konks out. and ryan o'neal has done some crazy things but you won't believe who he hit on at farrah

fawcett's funeral. trying to win the release of two american journalists, laura ling and euna lee are being held for crossing over into north korea. >> he's going to face the same difficulty that they faced when they were caught. they are holding these two and they want everything -- >> one expert said that clinton would not have gone without some sort of understanding about the women's release. otherwise it might be an embarrassment for him and the united states. our correspondent richard lui

will have more on that. e-mail is largely to blame for the postal service losing $7 billion this year. that is despite a 2 cent increase on stamps. no final decisions will be made before the end of september. the cash for clunkers program is running on fumes. money expert, jennifer westhoven. the dealers are afraid that they could get left holding the bag. the house already approved $2 billion to keep the plan going. it's up to the senate but there are critics out there and the senate who say this is wasteful spending. they don't believe it's cutting oil demand. they are not sure it's helping

the environment. meanwhile, the supporters say, it's great. the white house says almost a quarter million americans have traded in their gas guzzlers for new vehicles that get 10 miles per gallon. if the plan is not approved, there is a chance you could still get a rebate. the dealers themselves are real nervous. as you know, dealers are in a lot of trouble lately. the last thing they want to end up doing is fork over money. >> can you imagine? >> yes. >> after the other cars have already been destroyed? >> yeah. >> some passengers on yesterday's continental flight that hit hard turbulence say that they thought they were going to die. 26 people were hurt when the flight from rio to houston and took a plunge. people were thrown against the.

>> sealings and the walls. >> it happened very fast. you know, it's like we hit the wall, you know. >> now, the air france flight that the women referred to was also out of rio and 220 people died. yesterday's flight landed in miami where people were then treated. young kids who watch too much tv may be at a higher risk for high blood pressure whether they are over weight or not. researchers looked at more than 100 kids and the less tv they watched, the lower the blood pressure. look at these flames. it's a huge grass fire that broke out in idaho yesterday. county officials say that it burned up to 600 acres before the firefighters contained it. it also forced 15 families to evacuate.

nobody was injured. the homes are fine now. and a fire chief says that the earlier report shows that lightning may have started that fire. >> if this is the worst weather we have, it's flot that bad. >> good morning, robin. it's a small area, if you look at the stroj thunderstorms developing right now, it's right across central illinois. we have a brand-new severe thunderstorm watch and it's south of chicago. you can see in the middle part of your state, it's going over towards the east and the leading edge of that has gusty winds. over 60 miles per hour. right around cincinnati and down towards louisville, lexington, showers and thunderstorms. most of it is sliding down to the southeast. the boundary will pop up more thunderstorms later today. some could be severe. more thunderstorms for the last couple of hours, too, riding out of the kansas city area and north of missouri, now towards

the northern part of the illinois. windy conditions for the morning and more thunderstorms may develop later this afternoon. that entire area could see strong thunderstorms. all right. now, where it's not going to shall that bad, let me show you what it looks like at cape canaveral. this is a live shot right here. it's a dress rehearsal launch. they will fire this baby up sometime in august. as they wheel that out on the 1.5 mile an hour crawler. there you go. more in just a little bit. >> i think they will be fine. >> yeah, they have some time. probably about two hours. >> thank you. >> yep. >> new this morning a. co-pilot has now been freed after being trapped in the cockpit of a

plane that skidded off the runway and crashed it into the control pou tower. the flight was landing on a thai resort island. at first, iran said they didn't know anything about the three americans that crossed their border. and a woman is suing her college because she can't find a job. can you do that?

lance corporal randy just got married and everyone, especially mom, cannot wait until he comes home. good morning, robin. my name is randy mcdaniel and i want to say hello to my son. we all miss him and worry about him every day and we love him and can't wait until he comes home at the end of okay. i miss his sense of him more. i miss his jokes. i miss my little boy.

>> rena, thank you. if you have somebody in the service and you want to salute them with the honor to help you, go to cnn.com/robin. now, three hikers have been crossed with crossing an unmarked border. shane and sarah and joshua are their names. secretary state hillary clinton is asking iran to provide more info. >> obviously we are concerned. we want this matter brought to a resolution as soon as possible. and we call on on the iranian government to help us determine the whereabouts of the three missing americans and return them as quickly as possible. >> a west side linked to iran's revolutionary guard say that they were close to the border.

a woman is suing her college because she can't find a job. treen na graduated from new york's monroe college in april with a 2.7 gpa. since then, she's heard from only a couple of employers. she wants her $70,000 tuition back plus two grand for the stress of the job search. the college says, no one can guarantee employment but that it is committed to helping all students search. you know, the white house wants to shame some big banks into finally helping americans with mortgage release. jennifer is here. how are they going to shame them? >> they are going to put out a list. it's basically a naughty and nice list. they are saying the names of the lenders not doing that much and basically hoping that public outrage is going to kick these

banks into doing something. now, remember the aim of the federal program making homes affordable was to help the economy, keeping people in their homes and safe. but there's a widespread agreement that it's not being implemented. the banks are not making these changes. citigroup, jpmorgan chase and wells fargo likely showed the levels when it comes to helping you, the homeowner, while smaller banks did a better job. now, we've been getting decent signals that the economy is recovering. i want you to know that it's not what you would necessarily see but some other things that did better. so auto sales did better and cash for clunkers. there was sign at the construction factories and all of those combined to help the stock market rally yesterday. the s&p topped 1,000 yesterday. the dow was over 9000. the nasdaq crossed the 2000 mark. we'll see what happens after all

of that buying and how things are panning out a little bit. all right. if you are traveling this morning -- >> okay. what is happening out there, bob? >> in cincinnati, with the thunderstorms overhead, they are going in and out no problem. remember yesterday at this time san francisco had almost a 45-minute delay. there could be a delay out of that. here's what we have for the rest of the day. a good day for the east coast. orlando, nashville, a couple thunderstorms coming on in and that's about it. midwest looking at more thundershowers and then out west again, it's going to be san francisco with morning fog and atlanta, so far, one delay. >> all right. you might not believe what church said they found at a church concert. take a look. truckloads of lsd, bombs, you name it. what the chunk has said about the alleged music fest.

>> former president bill clinton is trying to win the release of two journalists that entered it the country of iran illegally. richard lui joins us now. why send him when his wife is the secretary of state? >> he says north korea's top military commander met with clinton in 2000 and there's another expert that told the l.a. times that they have a lot of nas stall yeah. they visited north korea in 2000 as well. you know, richard, you're hearing that former president clinton was not the first choice. >> right. >> who would have been? >> well, what we are hearing is from the state department producer with our sister network saying that north korea baulked at the first two suggestions.

she says president obama's administration offered to send former vice president al gore where the two women worked as journalists. she also says obama so two other possibilities there, robin. >> this is a story that we're watching today for any movement on. a coroner is doing an autopsy on a child's body pulled from the canal in idaho. police don't know yet if it's 8-year-old robert manuel missing since july 24th. >> a missing child is every family's nightmare and a heart take for this entire community. all of us, including the investigators on this case, have said to ourselves, what is robert were my child?

our hearts go out to robert's family tonight as they wait in private for a positive i.d. through the coroner. >> police have said that there is evidence that the boy disappeared under suspicious circumstances. three people are fighting for custody of a baby cut from the mother's womb. darlene was eight weeks pregnant when she was found last week. a friend of the boyfriend's family spoke on his behalf outside of the hearing yesterday. >> who named her isabel? >> darlene did. this is justice for darlene. >> haines had a restraining order, though, against her estranged boyfriend. she had three other children in

state custody. golf is one of those games where you think nobody is going to get hurt. well, not necessarily. you've got to hear how one man got stabbed with his own club? that's new for you in about 15 minutes. more injuries when it comes to sports but not playing them. former ji yeent receiver accidently shot himself in the thigh and now he could be going to jail for three years. >> michael vick got 2 37b months for dogfighting and donte stallworth got 30 days for manslaughter. burris could be looking at 3 1/2 years for carrying a gun and on two counts of reckless endangerment. remember, he took a gun into a nightclub, dropped it, and it went off and shot him in the thigh. he has pleaded not guilty.

and we are about news and view. text us at 45688. or e-mail us at cnn.com/robin. doug on our facebook page says perhaps if the sentence fits, more pro athletes may start thinking that they are above the law. thanks, guys, keep them coming. after winning the pennsylvania 500, hamlin hasn't run a race after 50 tries. the whole moment just overcame him. >> my grandmother and my mom and i think of my mom right now. >> hamlin's grandmother was 91

and she watched every race and always wore the number 11 on her sox. talk about making a grand entrance, reggie, the colts' receiver, showed up driving a dumptruck. he was basically trying to say, it's time to go to work. i hope he brought his uniform. >> and he knows how to get the cameras on him. >> that's right. police hauled away drugs from a church concert. it happened at the church of universal love and music. the dea says they found enough mushrooms, lsd and pout in brownies to fill three trailers. by the way, the church was not charged. >> as far as drugs are concerned, we don't control drugs but whenever you listen to music, then you're buying drugs. >> his attorney says it's a

malicious prosecution because of a past lawsuit. it's a family are you union 70 years in the making. how two brothers managed to find each other after being separated at birth.

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call the number on your screen for free information. good morning to you. the new york stock exchange is opened. g.i. joe star is helping to ring the opening bell. their new movie opens on friday. stocks are set for a bit of a retreat even though yesterday there was a bit of a rally. we'll check in in a few minutes. breaking news, former president bill clinton is in north korea trying to win the release of two american journalists being held there. they are sentenced it to 12 years in prison. the trip is a private mission. an airplane skidded off the runway and crashed into a

control tower. the pilot was killed and at least 34 people were hurt. the flight was landing in stormy weather today on a thigh resort island. the co-pilot was trapped in the cockpit until rescuers pulled him out. president obama celebrated the new gi bill. the updated bill expand education benefits for those who fought in iraq and afghanistan. good morning, sunshine. it's 31 minutes after the hour. one expert said that former president bill clinton would not be in north korea this morning without some kind of deal on the table. now, clinton is trying to get two american journalists released. laura ling and euna lee have been sentenced since march. the question is, what should we expect from the trip? >> the fact that he's actually

going there to north korea probably means that they've already made the arrangement for the release of the two reporters so it's most likely that they will win former president clinton gets there, he will be coming back with the release of the two reporters so that in itself is quite significant because this has been a -- sort of a thorn in the side of the u.s. relations. >> the white house is not taking any questions about the trip. they just released a statement saying that the solely private mission to secure the release of two americans is on the ground, we will have no comment. we do not want to jeopardize the success of former president clinton's mission. a judge approved michael jackson ds mother getting permanent custody of the late singer's three kids. debbie rowe did not object in exchange for visitation rights. but here is something that is

interesting. attorneys for his dermatologist said that the wants to be involved in his life. here is jeffrey toobin. >> reporter: he comes in and doesn't ask for custody, he doesn't ask for visitation. he just sort of asks to be invited to thanksgiving every year. >> but how often does things like that happen in a custody case? >> the thing is, what he was asking for, the law doesn't have any provision. and he has no legal status because he is rumored to be their parents but he's never been proven to be the father. >> well n. an interview last month, he said that he is not the kid's biological father. >> one golfer is learning the hard way. a friend said that the teen slammed his club against the golf cart when he got mad after a shot.

the club broke in half and stabbed him in the stomach. it went about six inches appearsing his intestine. >> he have he was bleeding pretty bad so i brought him over there. >> >> the victim had emergency surgery and he's expected to recover. rrt. so a married man took one of his girlfriends to a motel and, get this, the court documents allege that her sister, his other girlfriend and, oh, yeah, his wife is waiting for him, he was tied up and his collar was glued to his stomach. they left. he got free by chewing through his bindings. the woman was arrested and she's embarrassed.

do you know what the real story there is? it wasn't a senator, a congressman, or a governor. it was just your regular every day average joe. >> i agree. that's great. >> i want to start out around the desert southwest. another hot temperature is in store for you. excessive heat warnings. that's being extended out to the southeastern desert in california but phoenix today looking for a high of 114 to 115. let me take you live there in phoenix. we're starting out on a warm noit. hardly any relief. warm 90s right now. you can see what it looks like. it's going to be nice and beautiful but it's going to be hot. 114 today. yesterday hit 114 and tied a record. i think you can see 116 as a high as your record today. rest of the country you can see another heat advisory today. it's on the border of oregon and washington state. you can see temperatures here about 95 degrees. so more heat out there for the pacific northwest. rain showers and thunderstorms lining up the region as you get

into the ohio valley stretching towards kansas city. look at the squaw line as it races on down to kentucky and weses with. it's going to rain itself out over the ap lach chan mountains. more thunderstorms are a possibility. we'll see that around areas like cincinnati and getting towards cleveland. you can see all of the lined up areas right here. here's how it looks on the radar picture. it's racing in towards central parts of illinois. a big echo right there means a lot of gusty winds. in the west, a couple of minutes ago in los angeles, a nice little rainbow right there. how about that? that's beautiful. that is so beautiful. how can you say that you're going to have a bad day when you see that. >> right. it's going to be a great day. >> thanks. yep. >> you have probably heard that

if i would have shut my mouth. the recent rally has pushed the levels above 2000 yesterday and the s&p topped 1,000. that has not happened since last fall. i'm pretty sure it's not supposed to be like that. actually, why not? why shouldn't my face be on -- susan lisovicz is at the new york stock exchange with a look at today. >> that is the catalyst that we need on wall street, robin. the bulls have just been waiting for that. >> all right. >> okay. here's the reason why we're seeing a little bit of a give back in the first seven minutes of trading. our wall let's are taking another hit. the biggest drop in four years was in june. not surprisinglying, then, spending was just as much.

iron man led the way in the quarterly results. marvel has a portfolio of more than 5,000 characters the donald is happy. he received good news from a bankruptcy court saying that he can regain control of a trio of ka cease knows that, of course, already bear his name. he doesn't own anything that doesn't have his name on it. the real estate mogul and a dallas bank over came competition to buy back the atlantic city casino company. he won grants. the donald lost the company four years ago. also through bankruptcy court. and he said that he and his daughter will make it great once again.

pretty tough, though n. a recession. everybody is having problems. >> all right. thank you. while you were doing that, folks, we have breaking news coming in here. you know that a former u.s. president bill clinton is in north korea this morning. well, we're getting word from a south korean news agency that bill clinton has met with north korea's leader king jong-il today. he is there, clinton is, trying to negotiate the release of two american journalists. they have been held since they were convicted and accused of going into north korea. so this is according to the white house that clinton and pea young ang and he released a verbal message from the u.s. president, boek. according to south korea, we have not confirmed any of this here at cnn and we will work to do that and i'll bring you any more developments and that will be breaking news.

now, one high powered senator has finally made his decision and he is against her.

the latest slapping dictionary. >> getting popularity, shut your biden hole. >> that is a good one. and on that note, we would want to wish our president obama a happy birthday. he's the youngest president in history. here he is when he was still

senator obama. this was back in 2007. a big name in the senate has come out against the nation of judge sonia sotomayor to the supreme court. john mccain says that sotomayor is a judicial activist. >> limitations on judicial power in our diplomatic system of government lacks a key qualification for a lifetime appointment to the bench. for this reason and no other, i am unable to support judge sotomayor's nomination. >> she's expected to win easy confirmation. six republicans and clark howard explains why you shouldn't change your vacation nal plans

on social networking sites until afterwards. >> do you twitter, facebook, myspace? especially with twitter, anybody can follow you at any time. here's a special warning from financial writer kathleen fender who is already hearing multiple reports of people who have twittered or myspace or facebook, that they are going to be on vacation, going here or there and posting pictures, from when they were on vacation and realtime come home to find that somebody burglarized their home. when you are going on vacation, you may think that you can trust everyone on your facebook page. but wait until you return from the vacation to show off that vacation. don't post in advance when and where you are going because why

foul up your go to cnn.com/clarkhoward. >> catch him at noon eastern on saturday and sundays right here on hln. a reporter with our sister network interviewed a dozen boys who said that they were kidnapped by the taliban in afghanistan and the boys say that they were trained to become suicide bombers. richard? >> shoblging, isn't it? >> it really is. >> and very surprising. we'll have more on that in the next 20 minutes, robin. the boys were freed by the army and their story is quite frightening, as you were saying. >> plus, a jury has come down hard on a boston university student who admitted to downloading hundreds of songs from the internet and it could be hundreds and thousands of dollars for him. and a transgender mayor what he wore to talk to a group of kids,

robin. >> all right. was ryan o'neal really devoted to sarah faucet during her final days? after the actor admitted that he hit on a woman at her funeral. wait until you hear who the woman ended up being.

breaking news this morning. reports that former president bill clinton has met with north korea's leader. that's from south korea's news agency. he delivered a verbal message from president barack obama. clinton is there to help negotiate the release of two american journalists that you are seeing there. laura ling and euna lee. after ryan o'neal made a shocking admission to vanity fair, said that he was so frazzled at farrah fawcett's funeral, he hit on his own daughter. i guess he doesn't see her very often. and on "larry king live" to answer questions about the incident. >> it's been reported that your

father didn't notice tatum and -- >> he was flirting with everybody. >> with his daughter? >> he doesn't -- you know, my dad is getting up in the years now. i don't think he really recognizes people that he's known for years. >> his daughter? >> it was his daughter. he didn't realize that it was her. yes, it was her. >> well, the vanity fair article says that his son red questioned his devotion to farrah fawcett. she reportedly gave the bulk of her estate. michael vick was back on the field again. okay. it was a high school field. but here is rafer. >> he seems to be getting a lot of support from his home state of virginia. his former high school coach invited him to play with the football team, a high school football team. so he did.

he showed up and threw passes to some players and then afterwards he talked with m kids. meanwhile, they had planned a community celebration day but the organizers canceled it. he said that canceled it. he said vick had an engagement with the humane society, but the humane society is denying that to cnn. and while he served 18 months for dogfighting, plaxico burress is looking at 3 1/2 years for possession of a gun. he's pleaded not guilty. we're taking your thoughts on this. a 3 1/2 year sentence for carrying an unlicensed gun. text it to 45688, start it with robin's name and you can e-mail us at cnn.com/robin with the contact us button at the bottom. michael in texas e-mailed, mr. burress should be grateful that being stupid is not against the law. why did he have a gun in a nightclub?

3 1/2 years is appropriate. meanwhile, ricky from arizona disagrees. 3 1/2 years, that's what i too long a sentence. here in arizona, we don't even have to register our guns when we buy them. probation is a better sentence. keep those thoughts coming. that's a look at sports. >> thanks. we had a variety of deferent opinions, for sure. thank you. all right. so a lot of you might be watching from the airport network right now, wondering, where's my flight? here's bob. >> if it's coming out of cincinnati, you know it's going to be delayed. cincinnati just getting blasted over the last few hours. that's the rain coming in. louisville, looking at a ground stoppage because of the thunderstorms overhead. ground stoppage ends at 10:00 cincinnati, but probably gets extended. more delays nashville, cleveland, detroit, st. louis, may see delays. san francisco, a 45-minute delay currently because of fog. robin, more weather in just about a half hour. >> all right.

this is going green, all right. see how one couple is taking drastic measures to be trash free for a whole year.